Chapter 694

“Don’t worry, I’ll handle this.”

Right after she said that, Tyler’s car pulled up. Through the window, he saw Rachel arguing heatedly with a group of men.

“Cecilia’s husband was the one who borrowed the money! What’s this got to do with her? Bullying a defenseless woman like this, do you think that’s right?”

“Her husband’s gone now, so of course we’re coming after her. Here’s the IOU–he owed us 200,000. We’ve already looked into it. The neighborhood her house is in? Prime real estate. If she sells it, she can pay us back with plenty to spare.”

Rachel quickly defended Cecilia. “That house isn’t even hers to sell! She has no grounds to liquidate it.”

“We don’t care! We just want our money. And if she doesn’t pay up, don’t blame us for getting rough!”

One of the men raised the club in his hand. Meanwhile, Yale was still leaning against a tree, looking worse for wear. Rachel gave him a quick glance, then sighed and turned back—he didn’t look suspicious. It seemed more like he had been in a scuffle and had come out hurt.

Rachel shielded Cecilia, holding her tight, bracing for the blow. But the pain never came—only a shriek.

“Argh! My arm! It hurts, it hurts!”

Rachel and Cecilia looked up. Tyler was standing in front of them, the man already sprawled on the ground from his strike.

After seeing Tyler, the thugs froze. One quickly rushed to haul his buddy up.

“Y–You’ll pay for this,” the man spat and glared at Cecilia before hastily retreating with the others.

Rachel immediately turned to Cecilia. “Are you hurt?”

Cecilia shook her head. “I’m fine. What about you?”

“I’m fine too. Thank goodness Tyler showed up when he did.”

By then, Yale—having recovered from vomiting—hurried over to Tyler.

“Mr. Hunt.”

Tyler’s expression was dark. “What did I tell you before? Did you forget already? I told you to protect them, and what do you do? You hide off to the side while two women are left on their own.”

Yale’s shoulders hunched instantly, and his neck shrank back. “I’m sorry, Mr. Hunt, they were too fierce. I couldn’t handle them.”

Tyler’s piercing gaze swept over him. “Strange. You don’t look injured at all. You seem perfectly fine to me.”

That last line made Yale’s heart race. He lowered his head silently.

Sensing danger, Rachel quickly stepped between them. “Don’t blame Yale. He did his best to help us—you saw for yourself how many of them there were.”

“That’s no excuse,” Tyler snapped.

Yale glanced at Rachel. “Ms. Lloyd, you don’t need to cover for me. This was my failure. I didn’t protect you properly.”

Rachel looked up at the sky. “Enough. It’s getting late—we should head back and figure out our next step there.”

But Cecilia shook her head. “No, Rachel. I’ve already caused you enough trouble. Don’t waste more of your time on me.”

She even bowed to Tyler. “And Mr. Hunt, I’m sorry to have dragged you into something so trivial.”

“It’s fine. But Cecilia, I do want to know—weren’t you supposed to be meeting Rachel about something? How did you end up crossing paths with these men?”

Cecilia froze. “Huh?”

Chapter 695